Albus Potter and the Stolen Hat
by StinginLikeaBee
Summary: Follow Albus Potter as he goes to Hogwarts. If trying not to be late for classes, anger the ghosts and bringing his family shame isn't enough, the Sorting Hat has been stolen, and he is the prime suspect. Watch as he tries to prove his innocence, make friends and maybe even discover something about himself.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is all following Albus Severus Potter from when he first steps onto the train to Hogwarts. This is my first ever so please don't hurt me! Unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. Hope you enjoy! **

As soon as his father's figure had faded far into the distance, Albus found a compartment with his brother, James, his cousin, Rose, and a few of James' friends. James and his friends immediately began taunting him.

"I bet you'll be in Slytherin with all the horrible people!" he said, sticking out his tongue.

"No I won't James! Dad said I wouldn't!" Albus told him.

"Only to make you feel better!" retorted James.

At that, Albus turned his back to James and his friends and stared out of the window thinking _'what if he's right? What if dad was only saying what he said?' _A lone tear raced down his cheek and fell into his lap. He didn't bother brushing it away. He sat like that for a while, until James got bored and he and his friends left the compartment. Now it was just him and Rose. There was an awkward silence at first; neither knew quite what to say. It was Rose who spoke first.

"So you really don't want to be Slytherin, huh?"

"No." he mumbled in reply.

"I suppose this is a bit of a stupid question, but which house do you want to be in? I hope **I'm** in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Ya know, I've heard people say that the people in Gryffindor are really cocky and think they're the best, but I don't think so. I think they're talking about Slytherin. Slytherin really is an awful house isn't it?" she rambled on like this for another five minutes, but Albus wasn't listening. Rose was one of those people who can talk for hours on end with hardly any contribution from anyone, so all Albus had to was nod and say "yeah" every once in a while.

Albus looked up at the sky and remembered his father's tale of how he and Uncle Ron followed the train in a flying car that Granddad Weasley had 'modified'. He laughed to himself but then realised that he was probably never going to have a friend to do anything like that with. After all, his father and Ron had met for the first time on the muggle platform, but the only people he had seen all day were his family. Soon, Rose figured out that Albus wasn't talking to her so she started sulking. This suited Albus just fine; he actually kinda preferred solitude to company anyway. He really didn't like having to make conversation at the table or having to make awkward small talk with horrible relatives that visit every year. Instead, he liked to be alone and think. Just think. Nothing else.

And that was what he was doing on the train. Just thinking. He thought about many things, but his mind kept coming back to the Sorting. He was dreading it. He was so worried that he just completely blanked the trolley lady when she came past his compartment, when other first years would have jumped at the chance to buy some liquorice wands or chocolate frogs. By the time the train was nearing Hogsmeade station, Albus had a suspicion that he was going to throw up all over the plush leather seating in the compartment. Fortunately, though, his stomach held out long enough for him to change into his robes and wake Rose up (she had fallen asleep some hours ago).

As the train screeched to a halt at Hogsmeade, Albus was almost trampled by the onslaught of people rushing to get to the carriages first. So naturally, Albus and the other first years were among the last ones off. As Albus stepped off the train, he saw James looking for him.

"So … I guess I just wanted to say ... see ya at the Gryffindor table."

'_Huh. So he does care.' _Albus thought whilst saying, "Uh, thanks James."

As James got lost in the midst of the mass of people heading towards the carriages, Albus turned to the sound of,

"First years! First years over here please!" Albus looked and saw a kindly-looking woman with several scars running down the length of her face. As they were tinged with a pale green colour, Albus suspected they were the work of a dragon. One of her eyes was a startling blue, the kind of blue you get on a cloudless, blisteringly hot day in the middle of summer, whereas the other had turned a cloudy white from the scars she had. She had brown hair in a tight bun on top of her head. Albus thought it looked a bit stupid, but he went towards her anyway. When all the first years had arrived she started walking down a narrow path.

The path went on for some time and by the time they had reached the end, Albus was shivering so hard, he thought his teeth were going to get knocked out of his mouth.

"Ok everybody, no more than four to a boat." With that, she stepped into what looked like the main boat and waited for everyone to scramble into their own boats before tapping hers with her wand. On command, the boats lurched forwards, almost throwing Albus into the lake. The lake was as smooth as glass, the only disturbances the wake of the boats. At one point Albus saw several merpeople swimming next to the boat. He knew about the merpeople only because he had heard his father's tale of when he was in the Triwizard tournament in his fourth year. The giant squid also made an appearance. Most of the first years were scared of it, but not Albus! He had heard so many tales of the squid from his Uncle George, that it was just another mundane thing in his mundane life.

This boat trip last only a couple of minutes, and when they rounded the final corner, there was a collective sigh from all of the first years as they all got their first ever glimpse of Hogwarts. So his family hadn't been exaggerating when they told stories of its beauty. It was like going to school in a castle, but without the hidden passages. Apparently, there used to be loads of them, and Albus' father and Uncles Fred and George and Granddad James knew all of them, but they all got destroyed in the legendary Battle Of Hogwarts. The battle in which Uncle Fred was killed. The battle in which Albus' mother nearly died. The battle in which the darkest wizard of all time was defeated by Albus' father, and was the reason Albus didn't like revealing his full name.

Albus and the other first years were led up another steep path and through a set of small oak doors that looked as if they had been put in when the Earth was created. Even Albus had difficulty squeezing through. He supposed they were made for elves or goblins or some other tiny creature. The witch led them up several flights of stairs before stopping them before the biggest oak doors Albus had ever seen. Half of him yearned to see what was on the other side, but the other half was absolutely terrified at the prospect of having a hat fall halfway down his face and utter the one word that will determine his happiness.

All around the door frame were scorch marks, as if someone had thrown fire at it. Albus supposed it was the work of Uncles Fred and George. He had heard that they were unstoppable when they were at school. The details were a little fuzzy; he had only heard the story once before when he was very young, but apparently, they abandoned school in their 6th year, and half destroyed the school in the process. The majestic, perpetually rising walls met the ceiling somewhere high up above the first years. They were all grouped in front of those intimidating oak doors when a tiny, rather large man, maybe 5 foot at the most, shushed their nervous chatter and then went on to explain what was to be expected of them.

"I am Professor Figg, your Deputy Head and teacher of Charms. In a minute, you will be sorted into four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." A shiver went up Albus' spine as the word 'Slytherin' seemed to resonate across the hall. The Professor didn't notice anything out of the ordinary as he carried on with his little spiel.

"You will sleep with your houses, have lessons with your houses and eat with your houses. You will win points for good behaviour, lose points for bad behaviour." He gestured to four large hourglasses. One had a large lion to the side and thousands of glittering rubies were waiting to fall. Albus assumed that this was the Gryffindor hourglass. There was also a snake with green emeralds for Slytherin, an eagle with shining sapphires for Ravenclaw and a badger with shimmering amber stones for Hufflepuff. As the professor was talking, a few dozen emeralds fell through into the main chamber of the Slytherin hourglass.

As if he were a dog answering one of those whistles that only they can hear, Professor Figg abruptly turned on his heels and stalked through the oak doors. None of the first years knew quite what to do until Professor Figg stuck his head through the doors and barked,

"Well come on then! What are you waiting for?" the first years followed him meekly through the doors, unaware of what they were about to face. A sea of faces turned towards Albus and the other first years as they nervously walked up the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. About a third of the way down the hall, James gave Albus a big thumbs up and one of his cheeky grins that Albus had seen him give many times. The rest of the school looked eager, yet the upper years looked slightly bored as well. After all, they had seen The Sorting many times before. They reached the teachers' table and in front of it, stood a three legged stool with the most pathetic looking hat on top of it. The brim was ragged and had large holes in it. There were many stains and the tip was bent over. Suddenly, a huge rip appeared near the brim and the hat started singing (yes, you read that correctly).

_Now you may wonder how it  
was that this hat came to be.  
well listen up closely,  
for you're about to see._

_It was back then when this  
grand school was very newly founded  
Gryffindor and Slytherin  
and Ravenclaw astounded._

_Not forgetting Hufflepuff who  
contributed as well,  
this school life was happy, good  
and excellent as well._

_Now these four founders happily  
made arrangements for us all,  
but soon came time for everyone  
to say goodbye to all._

_But just before they left,  
strong Gryffindor, he said  
"How will our pupils be divided  
when we are all long dead?"_

_It was Ravenclaw who thought of it,  
the others were astonished.  
She took me off bold Gryffindor's  
head and so I started._

_They gave me brains so I could speak  
and sort you into houses.  
Be careful what you think, my friend  
for this hat always browses._

_For evermore, when this hat  
sits upon your head,  
it shall know if you want  
your dear old bedroom bed_

_._

_So by the end of this here feast,  
you shall be red, gold, green or blue.  
And so you'd best be happy, for  
I chose it just for YOU!_

As soon as the hat finished singing, the whole hall erupted into a round of applause. As the applause died down, Professor Figg addressed the first years.

"When I call your name, you will sit on the stool and place the hat on your head. The hat will decide which house you will be in." He brought out a long roll of parchment and started reading from it. The first name was 'Anderson, Polly', who was put into Ravenclaw. Albus stopped paying attention after that and started to study the ceiling, which was enchanted to look like the sky outside. At that moment, it was overcast. Albus came back to real time at around about the Ms. To be specific, it was 'Malfoy, Scorpius'. 'Malfoy, Scorpius' was sorted into Slytherin and the whole Slytherin table erupted into loud cheers. He zoned out again, this time for not as long and it was when he heard 'Pennington, Anna' get sorted into Gryffindor that he paid more attention. A few more Ps got sorted into their houses (Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor) before it was Albus' turn.

"Potter, Albus" barked Professor Figg, and immediately there was a lot of whispering. Albus heard someone say, "As in, Harry's son?" and the person he was talking to confirmed it. This was exactly why Albus hated flashing his name. People tended to do exactly this when they heard it and Albus often wondered how his father had dealt with it when he started at Hogwarts.

Albus walked forward on his jelly-like legs and managed to reach the stool before falling over in front of the whole school. As he sat, he place the hat on top of his head. It promptly dropped in front of his face so he couldn't see anything. After a few excruciating seconds, Albus heard a snide voice in his ear.

"Hmmm, another Potter then? I remember sorting your father master Albus. And your older brother. They were both difficult, but I know exactly where to put you …"

_Please let it be Gryffindor! Anything but Slytherin I beg you! _Thought Albus with all his might. He may as well have been talking, or rather thinking, to a brick wall because the next thing he knew, the hat had yelled out "SLYTHERIN!" for the whole school to hear. Albus felt numb. He was in shock. His dad had lied to him. The hat doesn't listen to you at all. Albus wanted to tear the hat to shreds and yell and cry, but he just couldn't. He had been paralysed. The hat was ripped off his head by Professor Figg, and the first thing that Albus saw was James sheet-white face that was the picture of shock. Albus could do nothing but walk towards the rejoicing Slytherin table.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Mr Filch and Mrs Norris are still knocking around Hogwarts, even though they must be really old. Just thought I'd let you know **** I really hope you enjoyed my first EVER chapter and so this is the next one xx Enjoy!**

Albus had nothing to do but sit and wait for The Sorting to finish. He had his head in his hands, covering his ears so he barely heard Rose getting sorted into Ravenclaw. _'At least __**she**__ gets what she wants'_ he thought bitterly. He didn't have anything against Rose, of course; they'd always been good friends as well as cousins. He just felt anger and resentment towards the hat, Professor Figg and everything else to do with The Sorting.

After the sorting, Albus didn't feel much like eating anything, even though the decadent treats were staring him in the face. After the disastrous Sorting, he had lost faith in a lot of things. Talking hats for instance. Eventually though, hunger won out and Albus managed to eat a few morsels of pudding before it disappeared. After the last dregs of food and drink disappeared down into the kitchens (accessible by tickling a pear or something; Albus had been told how to get in by Uncle George), the headmaster stood up and said a few words.

"For the benefit of our first years, I am Professor Wretch, your Headmaster. First years may also like to note that they are forbidden to enter the Forbidden Forest. Our caretaker, Mr Filch has asked me to remind you that he has banned quite a few magical items and that NO MAGIC is allowed in the corridors. Whatsoever. Now, prefects, lead your first years to your common rooms and off to bed!"

A large, burly guy with a mop of black hair stood up with a petite girl with exactly the same shade hair. Both of them had the same sneer on their faces, the same evil glint in their eyes and the same deathly white skin that looked as if it had never seen sunlight. Albus had a strong suspicion that they were twins. The girl yelled out in a deep, deep voice that surely didn't come from her mouth.

"Oi you titchy brats, come 'ere! We gotta … ummmmm what we gotta do again?" she addressed the other Slytherin prefect.

"We gotta take 'em to the common room so the little titches can go get nightmares and wet their pants" they waited just long enough for all the Slytherin first years to group together for about a second and they stalked off into the midst of the mass of people leaving the hall. A few first years managed to keep them in sight and pointed them out to the rest.

"Hey Guys! They're over there!" yelled one Slytherin first year, so they all trooped off and somehow managed to keep the prefects in sight. The prefects headed down a long corridor and then came to a long flight of stairs that were engulfed in darkness about two thirds of the way down. They descended and they emerged onto a wide, plain corridor that was completely different from the rest of the castle. There were no ornate carvings on the ceiling, just plain slabs of stone. This tunnel continued on for quite a while, or so it seemed to Albus, and eventually they reached what seemed like a dead end. The prefects stopped at the wall and turned back to face the first years, who were still catching up.

"Where have you been?! Hurry up!" the girl yelled at us. Albus was the first to reach them and for a while they just stared at him. Then the others caught up and the male prefect went on to say,

"This is the entrance to the Slytherin common room. The password changes every fortnight and there will be a notice on the notice board to tell you what the new one is. If you don't see the notice and get locked out … tough." He promptly turned to the wall and said a password that sounded like "Anointed One". A panel of stone slid aside, revealing a circular, stone room with a fireplace with a log fire roaring. There were lamps on the wall emitting a soft green light and the whole room was bathed in a rippling green hue. Albus supposed that this was because they were at least partly underneath the lake. Perhaps the only inviting thing in the entire room was the fire. The female prefect led the girls off to their dorms, and the guy led the boys across the common room to theirs. Albus' dorm was, again, stone and tinged with a green light. The beds were simple, yet extremely comfortable. There were five of them and they all had emerald green sheets, pillows and duvets. Albus sensed a theme, a recurring pattern. The ceiling had a large poster of a snake, Slytherin's symbol, and there was space on the walls for customisation. There were five average sized wardrobes for clothes and each bed had a bedside table with a lamp. There was an ensuite with five showers and sinks. The prefect read five names off a list. They were: 'Potter, Albus', 'Malfoy, Scorpius', 'Stoll, Andrew', 'Talle, Steven' and 'Cheal, Robert'. Each and every one of them could not have looked more different from Albus. They all had deathly pale skin and hard eyes, whereas Albus was naturally tanned and had softer, chocolate brown eyes. In fact, Andrew Stoll's eyes were so black you could hardly tell the pupil from the iris.

Scorpius gave Albus a friendly nod. No smile, just a nod. The prefect and the other male first years left the five of them alone. Seeing as none of them actually knew each other, there was the inevitable awkward silence until Scorpius headed towards his bed (the trunks had been sent up during The Sorting, so they knew which bed was who's) and flopped down onto it with a massive sigh of relief. The others followed suite and soon they were rushing around the dorm, brushing teeth, having showers and just generally getting ready for bed. Albus was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep for worry, fear and nerves. There was also a part of him that was extremely angry. Angry that his father lied to him, angry that the hat put him in Slytherin. He allowed a few minutes of silent crying, and when he was sure that the others were sound asleep, he said to himself,

"Curse that stupid hat!" Soon after, he rolled over and fell asleep, only to be woken by a nightmare of his dad wearing the Sorting Hat, saying that he was disappointed in him and that he much preferred James and Lily and that he would disown Albus because he allowed himself to be put in Slytherin. His dad ran towards him, hat still on head and started to strangle Albus. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't move. He couldn't … he was fading. And fast …

That was when he woke up. Drenched in sweat. The sun was just coming up, so Albus hazarded a guess at six in the morning. Albus couldn't fall asleep again so he decided to have another shower and get dressed for school. Albus found himself up a quite a while before the rest of the school so he passed the time by watching the fire blaze in the fireplace. Albus reckoned that it was enchanted fire because it obviously hadn't gone out since the night before. Then again, it could have been the house elves, Albus reasoned. He found a book lying on one of the green armchairs that looked hard but were in actual fact really comfy. He sat down and started reading it. The book was entitled 'Hexes, Jinxes and Curses' and it was filled with the most horrible pictures of people who had grown extra heads, sprouted tentacles out of their heads, had three extra legs of gold, titanium and wood, the pictures were never ending. There were some less horrific curses though. There were curses to make someone lose all their hair (not just the hairs on their head), or, alternatively, you could make all their hair **grow** (literally, _**all**_ their hair). Albus gave up reading after five minutes; the pictures were too graphic for an 11 year old.

Albus decided to leave to common room to wander around the castle for a bit. However, he reached the wall and had no idea how to open it from the inside. He was in the process of patting down the wall, trying to find some kind of lever or stone to push that will open the door when he heard a voice behind him.

"What're you doing? I hope you realise how utterly ridiculous you look."

Albus jumped half a mile high when he saw Scorpius standing almost directly behind him. He struggled to think of something smart to say and he came up with something like,

"Uh, yeah. Fine. Go away." Scorpius just smirked like he knew something that Albus didn't.

"Here, let me help you, Potter boy." He leaned forward and touched a seemingly random stone, however, when Albus looked more closely, there was the tiniest snake etched into the corner. The stone door slid into the rest of the wall with absolutely no noise whatsoever. Considering that it was thousands of years old, this was quite an achievement.

They walked for a couple of minutes before Scorpius started the conversation ball rolling.

"So your dad's Harry Potter then?"

"Yeah he is. Sometimes it kinda sucks actually." Replied Albus in a somewhat bored tone.

"My dad keeps telling me this story of how he was trying to kill your dad in some kind of magic room and then it caught fire and your dad saved mine. I think that was in the Battle of Hogwarts. So I guess I'm saying that I wouldn't actually be here without your dad."

"Really? Dad's never told me that one. I might ask him. If I ever forgive him …"

"Why does he need forgiving?" Scorpius asked innocently.

"Because he lied to me." Replied Albus simply. "He said that the hat would listen to me and put me in the house that I wanted to be in. Except it didn't. It shoved me into this hell-hole. I never wanted to be in stinking Slytherin! Why can't I be in Gryffindor like the rest of my stupid family? I don't hate Muggle-borns and I don't want to join any dark wizard forces, so why was I put in Slytherin?"

"Hey wait a sec! Are you saying that all Slytherins hate Muggle borns and end up going evil?" Scorpius stopped walking and stared at Albus in disbelief.

"Well your dad did!" retorted Albus.

Scorpius breathed in sharply as though he'd just been punched in the stomach. "I am NOTHING like my father Albus Potter!" at that Scorpius turned a full 360° and stalked off back to the Slytherin common room.

"I think you may have hit a nerve there, Albus" Albus said to himself. Now he had nothing to do but keep on walking and thinking about what Scorpius had said.

**~0~**

Albus ended up near a female toilet with a rather ratty 'Out Of Order' sign on the door. Albus could hear sobbing coming from inside, so he pushed open the door and went in. There was a girl, around 15/16 years old, sitting on the floor by the sinks. Albus gradually crept closer and closer, and as he was almost right behind her, he noticed that the girl was shimmering and was semi-transparent. Albus also realised that she wasn't actually sitting down, but floating an inch off the ground. Albus then knew how much of a fool he had been. This was Moaning Myrtle, the girl who got killed by the basilisk 86 years before Albus was born. She was forever moaning about her miserable life-after-death, hence the name 'Moaning Myrtle'. There was no way Albus could turn back without making a noise and disrupting Myrtle's moaning, so he spoke to her instead.

"Hi."

"Hello?" Moaning Myrtle stopped crying and whipped her head around.

"I just came in here to see who was crying, but seeing as it's you, I'm just gonna go."

"Go?! Go?! Fine then, go! Everybody goes! Nobody likes me!"

Albus had no choice but to stay now, so he decided to try and calm her down a bit.

"That's not true Myrtle! My dad did. He told me lots of stories about you and in every single one of them, he told me that you were, and still are, the nicest ghost he had ever met."

"Who's your father?" Myrtle demanded.

.

"Uhhhhh …" Albus hesitated because he didn't particularly like having to reveal his or his father's name.

"Harry Potter." He finally uttered, and then ran out before Moaning Myrtle could moan about another thing.

Albus ran blindly down several long corridors before coming to a breathless stop in front of a large tapestry with what looked like the history of Hogwarts, starting with the four founders and ending with the Battle of Hogwarts. The tapestry lasted for quite a while and Albus got rather tired trying to follow it all. Along the way, Albus passed several suits of armour, which either nodded their heads in acknowledgement or tried to join Albus in following the tapestry. The tapestry led Albus to a corridor near the Great Hall, where Albus could see pupils starting to arrive for breakfast and the morning post. Albus joined the throng of people and got ushered through the main hall, however he managed to stop just before the doors. Albus got knocked around by pupils much bigger than him, but still he held his ground. He stood like this for several minutes. Albus took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and steadied his shaking hands, preparing himself, and stepped through the doors of the Great Hall.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I know that Albus has a ferret in the film, but he's going to have an owl in my story. And my friend supplied the name for the Potions teacher and she apparently picked one at random. And there is also quite a lot of dialogue. Sorry x**

As Albus walked towards the Slytherin table, he saw James at the Gryffindor table with his mates. They were all laughing as usual, but Albus knew that not everything was quite right by some kind of brotherly instinct. So he approached James and asked,

"You all right James?" his voice full of concern.

"No I am not all right Albus Severus Potter!" James was not shouting, but deadly quiet, which Albus recognised as a danger sign. So he walked away. But James stood up too, and now he was properly yelling at Albus.

"How dare you let yourself get put in Slytherin, you traitorous little worm! I should've known that you'd be sorted there. All the evil ones do!" by this point, everyone was watching Albus and James.

"That's not true James and you know it!"

"Well take a look at Scorpius' father! And grandfather! And his whole frigging family!" James made as if to walk out of the hall, but Albus grabbed his arm and started to say,

"James, it wasn't my-"

"I am never **ever** talking to you again, _brother_" he sneered the last word as if it was the dirtiest word in the English language and should never be spoken under any circumstances. With that he walked off, leaving Albus standing in the middle of the hall until Scorpius led him away to the Slytherin table.

As they were sitting down, Albus felt that he had to apologise on his brother's behalf.

"Sorry about what James said about your family Scorpius"

"It's ok. He **is** right to be fair. Most Slytherins do end up the bad guys. Slytherin himself did apparently." Albus didn't answer because he was too busy stuffing his face with toast, bacon and eggs. Albus really regretted not eating anything for supper the night before because now he was starving.

Suddenly, there was a huge flapping of wings and the whole school looked up towards the ceiling in unison, as if it had been rehearsed a thousand times. Albus glanced up and was surprised to see a large tawny owl flying towards him, which he knew to be his own. Freddie Mercury, named after Albus' favourite singer, landed in front of him clutching a letter in her beak. Now you must understand that Freddie Mercury was incorrectly named, for Freddie Mercury (the owl) was in fact a girl. Albus took the letter from Freddie and ripped it open. Freddie dipped her beak into Albus' drink and took off for the owlery for her owl treats. As Albus expected, his letter was from home.

_Albus,_

_I hope you're settling in well and making new friends in Slytherin darling. Just remember that your father and I think nothing less of you because you have been put into Slytherin. Please don't beat yourself up about it and please remember that we will always love you and be proud of you, no matter what you choose to do._

_Love,_

_Mum_

Albus put the letter down and picked his knife and fork up. He was just tucking into his third fried egg when he heard a thin, reedy voice behind him.

"Boys! I am Professor Tromm, head of Slytherin and your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Here are your timetables for the year." Professor Tromm handed Albus and Scorpius identical pieces of blank parchment. Albus was about to ask where all the writing was, when Professor Tromm tapped the parchment with his wand and immediately there was a timetable fit for a king. Albus started to study his timetable, as if he needed to memorise it. he noticed that he had almost all his lessons with the Gryffindors, starting with Transfiguration for an hour. This cheered him up a little, though he didn't actually know any Gryffindors from his year.

Albus and Scorpius compared timetables and found that they both had exactly the same lessons at exactly the same times with exactly the same people. Albus waited for Scorpius to finish his bacon sandwich and then they set off towards the Transfiguration classroom. When they arrived, the Gryffindors and some Slytherins were already waiting outside. They joined the back of the queue and waited for the teacher. The whole school was running around the corridors, yelling to their friends but that one tiny section of Gryffindor and Slytherin first years was deadly quiet. They were waiting to see what was in store for them in the years to come, especially the muggle-borns. In fact, Albus was so nervous that he was afraid that, if he opened his mouth, he would throw up all over the floor and Scorpius. So he kept it firmly shut.

Eventually, the same witch who had collected the first years from Hogsmeade station invited them into the classroom. When they were all seated, Albus and Scorpius together at the back, she spoke.

"Welcome to Hogwarts and your first Transfiguration lesson. I hope you all had a good night's sleep, because you are up for a gruelling day. Now, you all should recognise me from Hogsmeade station. My name is Professor Hill, and obviously I teach Transfiguration. I am also head of Hufflepuff house. Some of you may also be wondering how I got these scars…" Professor Hill gestured to the side of her face, whilst some first years nodded eagerly. "However that is a story for another day." There was a collective groan of dismay from the entire class upon hearing that they wouldn't get to hear the story. Albus, for one, was intrigued. "Now, on with the lesson! Please turn to the introduction in your textbooks, found on page one." There was a general shuffling of papers as the class took out their books and turned to the introduction of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_.

Professor Hill started talking about what Transfiguration lessons would entail for first year and beyond.

"In your Transfiguration lessons this year, you will be covering small things such as turning snails into matchsticks. Next year we will move onto bigger and slightly harder things. For instance turning large animals into water goblets. Third year we will mainly be studying Animagi and in fourth year we will be changing our own appearances. Fifth year is OWL year, so I can't reveal too much about that because it will give you an unfair advantage. Finally, if you choose to carry on with Transfiguration for your sixth and seventh years, you will be doing NEWT work. Today we will be …"

Albus stopped listening, for Scorpius had just passed him a not saying,

_God, this is boring!_

Albus nodded in agreement and read the first few lines of the introduction. They basically said what Professor Hill had already said. The rest of the lesson was basically reading the first chapter, with a few interruptions from Professor Hill explaining things that didn't need explaining.

The class was dismissed for second period, and Albus saw that he had Herbology with the Gryffindors again. So they all trooped down to the greenhouses, where Professor Longbottom was waiting for them. Albus only knew Neville Longbottom because he and his parents were really good friends. At home, Albus called him Neville but at school he had to call him Professor Longbottom. This was going to get awkward … Albus just knew that he was going to slip and call him 'Neville' in the middle of a lesson. So he kept his mouth shut.

"Morning all! I am Professor Longbottom and I am teacher of Herbology and head of Gryffindor house. Now, if you'd like to follow me to greenhouse one …"

They all shuffled down to greenhouse one after Professor Longbottom, who had multiple scars on his face. Albus knew that they were from when the Carrows were in charge of discipline and also from the Battle of Hogwarts. The first years took their places behind pots of some unidentifiable plant. Professor Longbottom went on to talk about what they were doing that lesson.

Albus switched off around about the time when Professor Longbottom told them to read the first paragraph of the introduction. _Great. More reading,_ Albus thought as he rolled his eyes.

"I saw that Albus!" Professor Longbottom warned. A few members of the class, probably girls, giggled loudly. After reading, the class turned towards the potted plants that were now moving. Only ever so slightly, but moving nonetheless. They turned out to be something exotic from the Caribbean. Professor Longbottom was saying that they would be learning how to look after them in the lessons that would follow. He dismissed the class for third period, so they all filed out of greenhouse one whilst checking their timetables. Albus was no different and he saw that he had double potions with the Ravenclaws.

The corridors soon turned freezing cold and as dark as night, the only light the odd flaming torch as Albus and the other first year Slytherins descended way underneath the main hall. They reached the dungeons with plenty of time to spare and they ended up waiting around for a while. Soon the whole corridor was alive with the sounds of young boys making new best friends. Albus and Scorpius were no exception. They were just getting on to the part where they were sharing jokes and schemes when a witch burst through the Potion dungeon doors. She was about 30 years old and had elbow length auburn hair. She was one of those people who smiles with their eyes as well as their mouths.

"Hi! As you can probably tell, this is potions!" she said whilst beaming at the first years, but managing to not be too patronising. "Now, if you'd all like to take a seat. Anywhere at a desk will do. Not my desk!" she shouted as a rather confident Ravenclaw boy ran towards her desk.

Once they were all seated in appropriate seats, she started talking again.

"Welcome to Potions, people. I am Professor Speilbourg and I hope I manage to get you interested in Potions. The Predecessor of my predecessor … well, he was not the nicest bloke on the planet and apparently really biased towards his house …" she tailed off as if in a deep thought and Albus just knew that she was talking about Professor Severus Snape, his namesake.

"Anyway! Back to the matter at hand. Today, we will be starting to look at how to maintain your cauldrons properly. If you take out your books …" Again, more shuffling of papers could be heard. Albus was just reaching down to his bag to get his book, when he heard a very familiar voice ring out.

"Sorry I'm late, Professor. I was talking to Professor Figg"

"No worries, no worries! What's your name?"

"Rose. Rose Weasley."

"Sit down then Rose."

Albus was just looking up as Rose sat down next to him.

"Hey Albie! Today has just been the best ever! Don't you agree?"

Rose was on a high, so Albus just nodded numbly. Rose got out her book while Professor Speilbourg was talking about how to treat your cauldron correctly.

"Albie, huh?" Scorpius teased

"Yes. And if you ever, ever, ever reveal that to anyone who isn't family I will personally use all three Unforgivable Curses on you."

"All right, I'll call you Al instead"

"That's better. Thank you."

The rest of the lesson carried on almost exactly like Herbology and Transfiguration. Reading. No one was reading though. They were all talking, whispering amongst themselves. Except Rose. Just like her mother before her, she was buried in the book. No doubt, judging by the creases in the spine, she had already read it and re-read it and re-read it again. Albus had to actually poke her to get her to pack up when they were dismissed for lunch, she was that engrossed.

Lunch was a choice of practically everything under the sun. There was pizza, chips, sausages, salad, bread, bacon, lasagne, chicken, steak and countless other foods. Albus ripped a whole leg off a chicken and shoved it straight into his mouth. He was chewing on a mouthful of chips when James asked to talk to him. Despite their little spat that morning, Albus got up and followed him.

"Uuuhh I just wanted to warn you about Professor Tromm. He has some kind of grudge against me and I have a feeling that he'll have one against you as well. I think it has something to do with dad and the Battle of Hogwarts. So just be prepared."

"All right. Cool. Thanks. Listen, James -" but James had already disappeared into the mass of people. _I guess he's still being a bum_, he thought.

Now that it was on his mind, Albus had to check his timetable. Double Charms. Albus released a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. Charms was the one subject that he was actually looking forward to. That and Defence Against the Dark Arts, despite the warning from James. He found the spells really rather fascinating. God, he was beginning to sound like his aunt! He found himself wandering the corridors again. He sensed a pattern coming on …

**~0~**

Albus was getting used to the format of the first-ever-lesson-of-the-subject lessons. There was the compulsory mini-speech given by the teacher that lasted half the lesson, and then there was the obligatory reading of the introduction. And then another introduction to the next few lessons, and then dismissal. This was exactly how Charms went with Professor Figg. This was exactly like his Potions, Transfiguration and Herbology lessons, just different subjects.

Professor Figg was a great teacher. He had just the right amount of enthusiasm for his subject together with just the right amount of discipline to keep the class in order. He was so obviously completely barmy for Charms, but a little scary. Both in appearance and in how loud he could shout. Albus was absolutely terrified of him before the lesson. Now, he had a feeling that he and Professor Figg would be BFFs.

Supper was the same as lunch; pizzas, chips, whole hams, whole chickens, salad, chips, coke, water, pumpkin juice, anything and everything invented. _How the hell do the house elves manage to cook all this in one day?_ Albus asked himself. However they did it, nobody but them knew or cared. Scorpius was next to Albus, feasting on a chunk of ham and parsley sauce.

"This food is amazing!" he managed to say in between mouthfuls of the food, sauce slowly dribbling down his chin. He was just reaching for the ham again when it disappeared and was replaced with the most decadent trifle that Albus and Scorpius had ever set their eyes on. There was also a massive treacle tart and then the forever classic apple crumble. Albus gorged himself on ice cream and custard and about four slices of lemon roulade. Once he had eaten his fill, which was not nearly as much as Scorpius', he slipped through the crowds and back to bed.

Albus stumbled back down to the Slytherin corridor alone and reached the seemingly dead-end. He opened his mouth to speak the password, but no sound came out. He racked his brains, but try as he might, he could not remember the password for the life of him. He decided that he would have to camp outside and wait for someone to open the door. So he waited. And waited. And waited some more. Half an hour passed and still there were no people in sight. Another half an hour and Albus heard some footsteps. They just echoed past. Albus was just readying himself for a night out in the corridor when Scorpius came through, clutching his stomach and groaning.

"A-a-anointed One" he managed to say through his pain. Albus kicked himself for not remembering it. Mind you, he was famed for his forgetfulness back at Godric's Hollow. He caught up with Scorpius and guided him back to the dorm by his arm.

Whilst Albus got ready for bead to the sounds of Scorpius retching and throwing up all over the toilet, Andrew, Steven and Robert came through the door. They, too, were clutching their stomachs. They rushed into the bathroom as one and soon the sound of one boy retching morphed into the sound of three boys retching. Albus just climbed into bed because he knew he wasn't going to get a shower, let alone brush his teeth in the near future. The bed was just as warm and comfy as it was the night before and soon Albus was cosy and on the brink of sleep, having gotten used to the sound of the four boys throwing up. He gave a little sigh of contentment and rolled over, already asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I've kinda used JK's description of Ludo Bagman in this. Sorry JK! And I am so so so so so so sorry for being rubbish at updating! I will try to be more efficient in future! Emphasis on the word 'try' …**

Albus stumbled into the Great Hall with Scorpius, late as he usually was. They managed to wolf down some toast and jam before rushing off to get to Care of Magical Creatures on time. Care of Magical Creatures was one of the only subjects not taught indoors. And Hagrid was everybody's favourite teacher. And having known Hagrid for most of his life, they were already hooked up for tea. Professor Hagrid had apparently gotten a lot better as a teacher since his first lesson back when Albus' father was in his third year.

They reached Hagrid's hut just as Hagrid was sending the class away to work in pairs. Lessons had started five minutes ago, and Professor Hagrid wasted no time in reminding them.

"You're late Albus!" he said as the group dispersed and started their first Care of Magical Creatures lesson. "You too Scorpius" he added as Scorpius tried to sneak off unnoticed.

"Sorry Hagrid" Albus said meekly with a sad look on his face. This worked on Hagrid every time. This was a tried and tested method and soon Scorpius was doing it too. Hagrid was a sucker for sorry-looking people. He just forgave them even if they didn't deserve it. So Hagrid told them what to do and wandered off between the pairs to check up on them. Albus and Severus walked off to 'discuss' various beasts.

What they were actually talking about was their luck. It wasn't really luck as such, because Hagrid was never really one for punishments, but at least they hadn't been late for Professor Tromm. Thanks to James, they knew that he was formidable when it came to handing out detentions. The double Care of Magical Creatures lesson came and went all too slowly for Albus, because he just wanted to get to his first proper flying lesson. Of course he already knew how to fly, but that was only when his dad could be persuaded to put charms on the garden so the muggles wouldn't see. He often wished that he lived somewhere like Granddad so that they could play Quidditch as much as they wanted to without the muggles seeing. One of Albus' dreams was to play in the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, but seeing as he wasn't actually in Gryffindor, he decided just to settle for the Slytherin team.

He reached the Quidditch pitch slightly out of breath, having jogged there ahead of the others. Scorpius caught up a couple of minutes later and the rest of the year's Slytherins behind him. Soon after, the Hufflepuffs turned up, most looking nervous and excited. After several agonising minutes in which Albus could not keep still, the teacher turned up. Albus recognised him almost immediately. He was Jeremiah Heightener, former Seeker for the Chudley Cannons, Uncle Ron's favourite team. He had the physique of a once well-built man slightly gone to seed. There was evidence of a beer belly bulging underneath his robes and his hair now had a slightly greasy tone to it. He had with him 50 odd brooms, all hovering behind him. He flicked his wand and they lay themselves flat on the grass, all equidistance away from each other. He turned address the first years.

"Everyone stand next to a broomstick." There was a shuffling of robes as the first years walked towards the brooms. "Quickly!" he added impatiently. Once they each had a broom, he instructed them further.

"Put your right hand directly over the broom and say 'up'" Soon the Quidditch pitch was filled with the sounds of children repeating 'up' over and over again. Albus got his broom on his second attempt, so he had to stand for at least ten minutes before everyone else had managed to summon their broomsticks. 

Their next instruction was to straddle their broomsticks. Albus felt really stupid doing this; he already knew how to fly. He had to wait for what seemed like forever for Mr Heightener to finish instructing the first years on how to fly. Albus already knew how to fly, so he was starting to get impatient. _Why are we not flying yet, _he repeatedly asked himself as he was waiting. Eventually, Mr Heightener stopped talking and let them fly. Albus kicked off, quite hard and went soaring above the others. Only the first years from wizarding families were comfortably shooting across the pitch, pretending to score goals. The muggle-borns and some of the half-bloods were looking extremely nervous and they were only a foot or two off the ground. Albus only gave the others a cursory glance and shot off, Scorpius close behind. He always felt free when he was flying. He felt as if he could go anywhere and no-one would mind. He enjoyed the speed on his now ancient Nimbus 2020. He loved the thrill of being able to overtake people walking on the ground. Most of all, he loved Quidditch.

Soon, all too soon, they were being called back down to earth to leave for the next lesson. For the Slytherins and the Gryffindors, that was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Time to face Professor Tromm …

They reached the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom with plenty of time to spare. The class before was just filing out. Professor Tromm appeared, his small body completely contrasting with his massive voice.

"Come in then!" he barked at the children, who obediently shuffled in and chose seats. Albus and Scorpius chose seats about three quarters from the front.

"Books out, turn to the introduction!" there was a shuffle of paper as they all got their book out. Albus rolled his eyes at the thought of having to read again, but unfortunately, Professor Tromm was looking in his direction and saw him.

"10 points from Slytherin for that Albus!" he barked

"But-" Albus tried to protest, but that just earned him a further five point deduction. At this rate, Slytherin wasn't going to have any points left by the end of the lesson. So Albus learnt to keep his mouth shut. Professor Tromm was instructing them to read the introduction, so they did. Only Albus wasn't actually reading, he was only turning the pages. He smelled someone's foul breath and looked up to fin Professor Tromm an inch from his face.

"I said read boy, so read!" He said, starting off quietly then ending with a shout, spit flying out of his mouth and hitting Albus in the face. Albus had no choice now but to read. The problem was, though, the introduction was utter drivel. Albus couldn't believe that they'd actually publish such rubbish.

Once they were done reading, Professor Tromm began lecturing them about Defence Against the Dark Arts.

"This year, you will be covering the knockback jinx; _Verdimillius_, the spell which produces green sparks for those of you who are too stupid to not already know that; _lumos_, the wand-lighting spell; gnomes; doxies; curing werewolf bites and the curse of the bogies. All of these will require your utmost attention, and if you fail your end of year exams, you will never hear the end of it. So I suggest you pay attention Albus Potter!" Albus, who had been thinking about how right James was, had heard nothing that Professor Tromm was saying, so Scorpius had to poke him to get his attention.

"Huh? Wha-?" Professor Tromm interrupted him before he could say another word.

"I was just saying that I was going to have to take another 10 points off Slytherin. My own house too … what a shame, what a shame indeed. Ah well, you deserved it."

Albus spent the rest of the rest of the lesson fuming and Scorpius had to stop him from punching Professor Tromm in the face. Albus had to make do with making faces at him behind his back.

Albus left the lesson in a relatively good mood, though he was still mad at Professor Tromm. He caught sight of James leaving the Transfiguration classroom a few doors down, so he ran up to catch him before he had lunch.

"James, you were right about Professor Tromm he's an awful-ly good person" he changed tack pretty quickly as he saw Professor Tromm heading for lunch.

"I know Al, just don't get on the wrong side of him." He said with a wicked grin. Albus turned to leave, but before he got too far, James called out to him.

"Albus!" Albus turned back to him. "I'm sorry about yesterday, I kinda overreacted. Well I did overreact. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say so … see ya 'round" Albus and James both went to join their friends; Albus joined Scorpius, Andrew Stoll, Steven Talle and Robert Cheal. Basically, the guys from his dorm. They were all enjoying another massive lunch as an argument broke out between Teddy Lupin and one of his friends.

"Shut up! It wasn't his fault that the hat put him into Slytherin and not Gryffindor. Just because your whole family was Gryffindor before you, doesn't make every Slytherin muggle haters or … or … a Death Eater!" the whole hall gasped as one as Teddy spoke the two words that no one had heard in years. Everyone knew what they were of course, Albus and Scorpius especially, but there had been an unspoken rule since the Battle of Hogwarts that no one mention Them or You-Know-Who. The name still brought fear into every heart of Harry's generation and no one wanted a repeat of What-Happened-Last-Time.

However, Teddy's argument had now progressed to a wands-out fight; his friend had taken a deep insult to Ted's last remark, as one of his relatives had turned to His side (he got disowned). Teachers rushed in to break it up before either one of them ended up in the hospital wing. Teddy broke free and rushed his friend and managed to break his nose with a well-timed right hook. Before the teachers had a chance to restrain Ted further, he ran out of the hall presumably to his dorm.

Albus sensed people looking at him; everyone had seen his Sorting and knew that Ted knew the Potters well. So they had come to the conclusion that Teddy and his friend were arguing about Albus. Albus left for his next lesson before anyone could say anything to him. Surprisingly, Scorpius followed suite. Scorpius found Albus in an empty classroom, looking sorry for himself. He was just about to try and comfort him when Peeves burst through the door, humming merrily. When he sighted the two first years, he whooped with glee.

"Just look at the ickle firsties looking all sad! Peeves will cheer them up!" he then proceeded to throw water bombs at them. Goodness only knows where he got them from because he was carrying nothing when he entered the room.

Peeves was just about to throw his final, and biggest, water bomb when Albus had a stroke of genius.

"Hey Peeves!" Peeves looked down at Albus before aiming his water bomb at him. "You don't want to do that Peeves!" he warned.

"Why not?" Peeves demanded.

"Because I know George and he will be very disappointed to hear that you're attacking his nephew."

"Who's George?"

"George Weasley" just the mention of his name was enough to make Peeves reconsider throwing the water bomb; Fred and George were the only people from whom Peeves had taken orders, besides the Bloody Baron.

When it looked like Peeves was going to throw the bomb anyway, Albus used a tactic that his father had taught him:

"Is that the Bloody Baron I hear, Scorpius?" he said, motioning to Scorpius to agree.

"Oh yes" Scorpius said, acting his part well. Peeves promptly dropped the water bomb where he was and left as fast he could. Albus and Scorpius burst out laughing.

"Al, that was awesome! How did you know to do that?"

"Well my dad said that he used to say that when he came here, and it worked every time. Peeves was only ever scared of the Bloody Baron and if he thought he was near, then he would disappear."

They were still laughing around when they heard the sounds of people moving about the corridor outside, so they decided to head towards the Charms classroom for double Charms with the Ravenclaws. In Charms, they were starting to learn about _Wingardium Leviosa_, the levitation spell. Albus recalled his father's tale, involving him, Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione and a troll in a girls' bathroom. He smirked a little to himself. They weren't actually making things levitate yet, but they were practicing the wand movement and the incantation.

After a hard lesson's repeating the same thing over and over again, Albus was more than ready for some food, a shower and some sleep. He and the rest of his dorm headed as one to the Great Hall to feast once more. Albus was once again bowled over by the magnificence of the food. He often wondered why all the Hogwarts students weren't obese, what with all the food that was put in front of him three times a day, every day.

Once Albus had finished his third helping of a particularly delicious trifle, he and the others from his dorm all managed, somehow, to make their way back to their beds. Albus had one of the best showers he'd had in a while and he was soon tucked up in bed, armed with a book and a duvet.

After about an hour of reading, Albus' eyelids began to droop and he couldn't keep them open any longer. His hand fell limp and the book fell to the floor with a thud.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Once again, I have failed in updating and I am so so so so SO sorry *apologetic face* and when I say 'small dog' I don't mean tiny, like one you could fit into a handbag. Son of Whitebeard: yes he is **

Albus got up refreshed and ready for another day of school. He stuffed his bag full of books, parchment and spare ink. As he was rushing out of the door, he remembered his wand and shoved it hastily into his pocket, where it lit up leaving an eerie glow. He met up with Scorpius at the Slytherin table where he found a large plate of bacon waiting for him. He dug in at one, finishing within five minutes. He and Scorpius then hurried to their first lesson, which was with Professor Tromm so they didn't want to be late. Defence Against the Dark Arts crawled along like a snail carrying a whale, so Albus had ample time to daydream, obviously trying to pay attention at the same time. Unfortunately, about halfway through the lesson, Professor Tromm caught him out. Albus was jolted back to reality by Professor Tromm's face half an inch away from his yet again.

"POTTER!" he hollered, spit flying everywhere as usual. Albus had to resist the temptation to wipe it all off his face; he'd choose to have spit on his face over detention with Professor Tromm any day of the year. Professor Tromm carried on despite Albus' look of disgust. "If you think you're good enough to not pay attention, then maybe you could prove it."

"Prove it how?" Albus asked innocently

"Fix … this!" With that he dropped an empty glass vial on the floor, where it immediately shattered into a thousand pieces.

Albus had to rack his brains to try and find the appropriate spell. He remembered his dad having to fix some plates after he had smashed them. He tried to think back to that day. What had his father said after he had finished cursing? It started with an 'R', Albus was sure of that much … but what came next? All Albus had to do to make Professor Tromm leave him alone was repair a vial. Repair … repair … Albus' mind went into overdrive, struggling to come up with an answer. And then his mind added two and two together and made four.

All this time, Professor Tromm had been studying Albus with a triumphant look on his face. He was beginning to think he'd won, but then Albus took out his wand, its tip still ignited from earlier, and pointed it directly at the broken vial.

"Reparo," he said clearly. The shards of glass immediately flew back into their original form and there was a stunned silence from the whole class. The triumphant look on Professor Tromm's face slowly morphed into disbelief, then anger, then pure loathing.

"Detention Mr Potter, my office, six pm sharp on Thursday." Albus' jaw dropped open when he heard that and he just stood there, staring at Professor Tromm whilst the rest of his class scurried back to their seats. Scorpius pulled on his arm to make him move from the spot that he seemed to be stuck to. Albus spent most of the rest of the day fuming, and nothing would calm him down. He softened a little, though, at lunch time when he saw the amount of food piled up on the tables.

He was soon partially content, still angry at Professor Tromm, but full on delicious food. He and Scorpius went to their first History of Magic lesson, already prepared for endless boredom with Professor Binns, the only ghost teacher. Just about the only even remotely exciting thing that happened, if you can call it that, was him walking through the board at the beginning of each lesson. But that was only the first time he did it. After that, the novelty wore off massively.

After two hours of complete boredom, Albus returned to the Great Hall for supper. Once again, there was everything an eleven-year-old child could wish for. Albus turned in early, refusing company to wallow in self-pity and anger.

Albus was now well-used to the day-to-day routine of school life at Hogwarts. Even after the third day, Albus was already getting bored with the almost monotonous sequence of events. The only non-normal events were Quidditch practices, of which Albus was not part of, or detentions. Thursday came and went without too many hiccoughs, the only main one being Peeves hiding all the trophies from the trophy room around the castle, leaving Filch to find them all which meant that he was in a very bad mood. Albus still had to write a couple more inches on his Potions homework when the bells rang for six o'clock. Albus had to hurriedly stuff his things into his bag before sprinting out of the Slytherin common room and up to Professor Tromm's office. He got there two minutes late, and Professor Tromm noticed.

"You're late, boy!"

"I'm sorry, Sir. It won't happen again."

"Too right it won't. Twenty points from Slytherin. Come on Albus, don't make me keep on taking points off my own house!" If possible, Albus' mood went from bad to worse. Professor Tromm went on to tell Albus what he would be doing for his detention.

"Today Albus, Mr Filch has decided that the trophies need a polishing after Peeves' little game, let's say, and I kindly volunteered your services." Albus groaned inwardly when he heard this. He had seen the trophy room on the way to his lessons, and it was bigger than some of his classrooms. _That's going to take me HOURS, h_e thought. He traipsed after Professor Tromm, procrastinating as much as possible. He kept stopping to look at all the moving portraits of past wizarding celebrities. So Professor Tromm was getting more and more annoyed with him.

"Do you want another week of detentions Albus Potter?"

"No"

"No, _sir"_ Professor Tromm corrected.

"No, sir"

"Well then I suggest you get a move on boy!" Albus stopped putting off the inevitable then and soon they reached the trophy room where Mr filch was waiting for them with an evil smile on his face, Mrs Norris at his side. Without a word, Filch gave Albus some polish and a rag and moved to the corner to watch with a gleeful look on his face, as if he enjoyed watching him suffer. He probably did to be honest; all the pupils knew that he hated them, so they hated him back.

Two hours in and Filch still hadn't moved from his corner. At nine o'clock, Albus was just finishing the penultimate trophy when Filch started walking around, checking Albus' handiwork. He picked out several trophies that he had deemed 'not good enough' and told Albus that he had to redo them. Fortunately, for want of a better word, Professor Tromm arrived to dismiss Albus. Albus then wandered back to his dorm for a hard-earned sleep.

**~0~**

At breakfast the next morning, Scorpius was hounding Albus for information on his detention. Having told him everything five times already, Albus was getting increasingly irritated with him and it got to the point that Albus just left the table without Scorpius. Scorpius, however, was not put off by this abrupt ending to their conversation, instead he just resumed it from where they left off in Potions. Eventually, Scorpius got tired of talking to a brick wall so the conversation slowly faded away into nothing.

Shortly after second period, James caught up with Albus to deliver a message.

"Hey Al!" Albus turned at the sound of his name being called out. "I just got an owl from mum asking me to remind you that you're meeting up with Hagrid for lunch." With that, he returned to his friends and went to their next lesson. Albus realised that he had completely forgotten about going to Hagrid's for lunch and he couldn't say he was looking forward to it. It wasn't that he didn't like Hagrid, but he still had to finish his Potions essay. Most of all, he didn't particularly want to go alone. He had to practically beg Scorpius to go with him; he was still annoyed with Albus for not talking to him earlier.

Lunch time arrived and so Scorpius and Albus peeled away from the crowd heading towards the hall to go down to Hagrid's hut. Albus had been warned by his father about Hagrid's rock cakes so he passed on the knowledge to Scorpius. When they arrived, Hagrid invited them in with oven mitts on his hands and a floral apron tied around his waist. As they stepped over the threshold, the heat from the stove and the fire combined overwhelmed them. Hagrid opened the smoking oven and produced a rather badly burnt chicken not much smaller than a small dog. He practically threw the animal down on the massive kitchen table and produced three cups bigger than both Albus' hands put together. He poured out steaming hot chocolate, which looked like the nicest thing available to them. Albus thought longingly of the mounds of food up at the castle and desperately wished he was there with the rest of the school. Hagrid started to make conversation by asking how their first week had gone. That gave Albus enough reason to spend a good thirty minutes bitching about Professor Tromm. Hagrid, although he was technically meant to be on the side of the teachers, was sympathetic towards Albus and actually said that hardly anyone, even the other teachers, liked him much.

Albus started eating his meal of charred meat and what were supposedly vegetables with caution. He picked up a slither of meat with his fork and nibbled on the end of it. He had to resist the overwhelming temptation to spit it back out and feed the rest to the dog. But Albus chose to spare the dog's life and carried on eating it as if he was enjoying it.

By the time Hagrid started to clear away the meal, Albus still had three quarters of his left, as did Scorpius. Hagrid then produced a large plate of rock cakes. Seeing as this was large by Hagrid's standards, it was massive to Albus and Scorpius. Having been already warned about Hagrid's infamous rock cakes, the boys were careful not to actually try and eat any of them; they simply took some each and, when Hagrid wasn't looking, fed them to Hagrid's boarhound, Rodger, who promptly ate them all without complaint.

Some time later, Albus and Scorpius were still desperately hungry, but all the food had been cleared away from the Great Hall so there was nothing for them to eat until supper. So they had to suffer through two more hours of lessons before being able to eat. They were so hungry, they ran all the way from the Potions classroom to the Great Hall which meant that they were among the first ones there. Albus and Scorpius ran straight towards the table where the food was waiting for them. Albus soon had grease all over his hands and face and was still hungry when pudding appeared, despite having eaten practically everything within arm's length. Albus and Scorpius were soon full to the brim with food and pumpkin juice and stumbled back to their dorm where they were completely alone; the others were still eating, having got to the hall quite a while after them.

Albus went back into the common room to finish his Potions homework and also practice the levitation spell for Charms. A while later, when Albus had finished his Potions and had practiced the spell for over an hour, Scorpius came rushing from their dorm and said that they were running late for astronomy, which was at midnight at the top of the tallest tower, which takes at least half an hour to climb. Albus checked his watch, which said 11:45. He grabbed his bag and telescope and rushed after Scorpius. They arrived at the astronomy tower just five minutes late, which wasn't too bad. They were instructed to find a place to sit and set up their telescopes. Albus found a place next to Rose, who would not stop talking to one of her Gryffindor friends called Amy. Amy and Rose were talking about what had happened in their last History of Magic lesson. From what Albus heard, someone had somehow managed to blow up their feather. His last name was Finnigan, so Albus supposed that Seamus was the father. Albus had heard how Seamus had managed to blow up water when trying to turn it into rum.

Albus found Astronomy to be one of the most boring lessons, History of Magic obviously being the most boring. He thought that there was no point whatsoever in studying the stars and mapping them. They had already mapped them years before so what was the point in doing it again? Astronomy ended at about one o'clock in the morning, and Albus was exhausted. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

**~0~**

Albus woke up late the next morning and, for once, there were no repercussions. It was Saturday and most people were doing homework or practicing for the upcoming Gryffindor Vs Hufflepuff match. The great thing about weekends at Hogwarts was that there was always breakfast until midday in the Great Hall, so even if you got up at eleven in the morning, there was always breakfast available. And then there was lunch from half past twelve to two. And then supper from six until eight. So Albus had plenty of opportunities to eat at any time throughout the day. after brunch, he started on his History of Magic essay on some goblin revolution that happened before even the school was founded.

He was just getting started when a small girl approached him and asked to sit at the table. Albus could hardly refuse, so he moved up on the sofa and she sat down next to him. She got out her own History of Magic books and parchment and started scribbling furiously. Albus couldn't help but be reminded of Aunt Hermione and Rose. She was done within the hour, whereas Albus had barely written the introductory paragraph. She got up and walked off before Albus could ask for her help. So Albus was left to struggle on by himself and it took him a good three hours to finish it to a satisfactory standard. He put it away with a sigh and went outside to watch the Quidditch practice, even though Slytherin wasn't playing anytime soon.

Scorpius and Andrew soon joined up with Albus at the lake, where the squid was splashing about on the surface. They swapped History of Magic essays and, like everyone else who does that, he found that his was awful. They spent the remainder of the day laughing and joking about, playing the occasional trick on unsuspecting girls. Tricks were so much better when you had magic to help you, they found. Without magic, you had to settle for the lame muggle tricks, but with magic you could do so much more. They got back to the common room quite late, after having supper five minutes before it all disappeared. They stayed up even longer by the fire and they didn't go to bed until midnight at the latest.

Sunday was basically the same as Saturday, only there was less work to do and more pranks played. The boys were soon bored out of their minds and Albus wished he had his broomstick with him so he could fly around the school grounds and try and see what was lurking in the Forbidden Forest. But he didn't have his Nimbus, so he couldn't fly around and he couldn't play in the Quidditch team. The boys had nothing to do but throw dungbombs at each other, which made Filch even more angry than usual. They only just managed to evade capture and they found themselves at the entrance to the kitchens. Of course, only Albus knew that. He walked up to the painting of the fruit bowl and tickled the pear, which promptly transformed into a bright green door handle. The others stared at him in astonishment.

"How did you know to do that?!" asked Andrew.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he replied with a wink. He opened the door and revealed hundreds of house elves scurrying around four tables laid out exactly like those in the Great Hall and there was already a mountain of food piled up on them. As soon as the elves saw the boys enter the kitchens, a group of them rushed over to them and offered them as much food or drink as they wanted. Albus went for a few éclairs and several cupcakes, whilst Scorpius chose a flask of hot chocolate and two boxes of chocolates. That was to start with.

After gorging themselves on the food that elves would not stop giving them, the boys excused themselves from the kitchens, laden with food from the elves and returned to the Slytherin common room to sit by the fire and annoy the other Slytherins. Albus and Scorpius ended up being chased into their dorm by a particularly angry sixth-year. They were laughing so hard, they were crying and clutching their stomachs. It took quite a while for their laughing fit to wear off, and then it was only because one of the Slytherin prefects barged in to tell them to 'shut up or get a detention'. Said prefect stood by the door and waited for them to get into bed before leaving them alone. Now that they were in bed, they had nothing to do but either talk and risk getting a detention or sleep. Albus had already had enough detentions to last for several more weeks at the most, so he chose to sleep instead. He was just dropping off when he heard Scorpius whisper his name.

"Al?"

"what do you want Scor?" he asked, annoyed at being stopped from sleeping

"Nothing, it's ok. Just go back to sleep."

"All right …" he turned over and was asleep instantly.


End file.
